PMEL Earth-Ocean Interactions Program logo National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Earth-Ocean Interactions Program
EOI Chemistry Image Gallery (click for full size)
image of Alvin recover, click for full size Research submersible ALVIN recovery on Atlantis II after a dive on the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the NE Pacific.
bathymetry map of NE Pacific Bathymetric map of the NE Pacific, showing the Gorda Ridge, Blanco Fracture Zone, and Juan de Fuca Ridge.
image of Pipe Organ vent Pipe Organ vent chimney cluster on the Northern Cleft segment of Juan de Fuca Ridge during ALVIN dive number 2437 in 1991. Photo from the ALVIN bow camera.
image of Monolith vent Black smoker vents on Monolith chimney at Northern Cleft in 1991.
image of marker 6 at Tripod vent in 1988 Marker 6 at Tripod diffuse vent (maximum temperature 60°C) on Northern Cleft Segment in 1988. Bright white bacterial mats line cracks in basaltic sheet flow. Vent fluids were below seawater chlorinity.
image of Marker 6 at Tripod vent in 1992. Marker 6 diffuse vent in 1992. By 1990, a blanket of hydrothermal sediment several cm thick covered the area that looked very fresh in 1988. Vent fluid chemistry changed dramatically from 1988 to 1990.
diagram of hydrothermal plumes Steady venting from black smoker vents generates hydrothermal plumes that rise typically 100-300 meters above the seafloor. Event plumes associated with volcanic activity are much larger and rise higher in the water column. PMEL has designed instruments to monitor hydrothermal plumes and midocean ridge volcanic and tectonic processes.
image of sample of pillow basalt A lobe of pillow basalt collected from the CoAxial segment lava flow that occurred in June/July 1993. This sample was collected from ALVIN in October 1993, and shows red/orange iron-rich alteration where the glass has broken away. Halite (NaCl) crusts were seen on cavity surfaces of similar samples.
image of installing scoop on ROV ROV Pilot and Engineer Bob Holland installing the "Pac Man" scoop sampler on the port arm of ROPOS during operations on the R/V Sonne in July 1996. Also shown is the PMEL manifold sampler designed to take multiple high-temperature hydrothermal fluid samples in titanium syringes.
image of sub Shinkai launch Launching Shinkai 6500 from the R/V Yokosuka on the Southern East Pacific Rise in September 1994.
image of RM29 vents Multiple black smoker vents at the "RM29" site at 18°10'S on the Southern East Pacific Rise. Photo taken in November 1994 from the Japanese submersible Shinkai 6500.
image of RM29 site vents Black smoker vents (high chlorinity fluids) at the "RM29" site at 18°10'S.
image of RM28 vents Black smoker vents (low chlorinity fluids, 374°C) at the "RM28" site at 18°26'S on the Southern East Pacific Rise.
image of sampling at RM4 vents Preparing to sample 374°C, low-chlorinity fluids at the "RM4" site at 14°S, using the pump sampler from the Ocean Research Institute at the University of Tokyo, mounted on Shinkai 6500.
image of worm colonies on SEPR Worm colonies around a diffuse hydrothermal vent at 17°34'S on the Southern East Pacific Rise.
image of crabs at SEPR Crabs on a talus slope near high-temperature vents at 18°26'S on the Southern East Pacific Rise.
image of shrimp swimming at SEPR Shrimp swimming above a hydrothermally active crack in basalt on the SEPR near 17°27'S. Both shrimp and crab were seen to enter and exit similar cracks in this area.